


Nightshift

by mymemesareiconicmydepressionischronic



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Abusive Dave's Bro | Beta Dirk Strider, Angst, Dave Strider Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Dave's Bro | Beta Dirk Strider's Bad Parenting, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, My First Work in This Fandom, Not Beta Read, Pre-Sburb, Pre-Sburb/Sgrub, Rose Lalonde and Dave Strider are Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-08-13 15:07:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20176294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mymemesareiconicmydepressionischronic/pseuds/mymemesareiconicmydepressionischronic
Summary: Dave Strider cannot sleep.(This is a very heavy work, please be careful reading.  Also, this fic is sort of from Dave's perspective which means bro will be idolized, but that does not mean that he is not abusive.)





	Nightshift

Your name is Dave Strider, and you have been sitting up on your bed for five and a half hours now.

It's currently 4:30 am, which means that you'll be here for a while longer, but luckily it's Saturday so you can take a nap.  
You're up this late for one very simple reason; when you went to your room earlier and you shut the door, you didn't hear your bro move away.

This has been a routine for as long as you can remember, so really it's no big issue and it's not like your sleep schedual will be thrown off just because you skipped a night's sleep.  
For years now you two have followed the same song and dance - you go to your room at a fairly early hour, he follows you and you shut the door without a word. Then, one of two things will happen.  
Either he leaves and you sleep, or he remains rooted in place outside your door and you keep your eyes carefully glued onto the thin barrier between you two.

After six hours, he's always gone and you're free to move and sleep once he's out of the house. You can tell whether or not you passed the test by if he opens the door or not. If he does, then you did as he expected and he'll leave for his DJ gig at some nearby bar. If he doesn't, then you're quick to be ready for the note pinned to your door, guiding you to the roof for when he gets back.

You must have lost yourself in thought, as you find yourself blinking in carefully muted surprise as the door opens and you find yourself in a silent, psuedo-staring contest.  
These moments are always quiet, and you appreciate it. You're sure it's his way of saying that he respects your effort.

His shades are reflecting the dim light from your long-abandoned phone beside you, and a part of you wonders if you shifted just right, you would see past his spectacularly ironic glasses and see a subtle, but proud gaze. The other part, the one that makes you freeze up in strifes and always hesitate before messaging your sister, commands you to stay frozen.

Five tense minutes pass, and then finally he gives the ever so slight nod you've come to greatly value, and then he leaves, shutting the door behind him.  
You don't hear him go so much as feel - an oppressive silence lifting like a fog from your head as you exhale a breath you didn't realize you were holding.  
You still wait a few minutes for the soft sound of the front door clicking shut before you rise from your bed, ready to grab some apple juice from your closet and then get some shut-eye.

You're lucky to have such a cool bro.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not really sure I like how this turned out, but I'm posting it lmao


End file.
